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It's been a rough year, hasn't it? Seizing another opportunity to suck, 2016 decided to schedule our favorite holiday on a Monday. But it's not all bad. Even though you may not be able to slam pumpkin martinis and stay up watching horror movies on Halloween itself, there's always the prior weekend.

Families: Halloween for kids can be way more exciting than plain old trick-or-treating. Head to the Millibo Art Theatre, for instance, for Witches, Wands & Wizards. There'll be a Halloween magic show, costume parade and all sorts of Harry Potter-themed goodness (Oct. 29-30, $12, themat.org). Alternatively, The Pioneers Museum will hold a scavenger hunt on Saturday with a haunted house, stories and crafts (free, cspm.org).

The Zodiac has prepared for both kids and their parents, devoting half of Saturday to families, and the other half to a wild adults-only party. Stop by any time before 7 p.m. for all-ages activities like creepy crafts and pumpkin decorating, then come back later for Halloween trivia, a drag/burlesque show, tarot readings and tons more (free before 7 p.m., $10 after, facebook.com/zodiacbar).

Adults without kids (or with a reliable babysitter) can check out The Gold Room's Spooky Spirits Spectacular on Friday night — drinks, music, live performances, prizes and more. What's better? Some of the proceeds go to support Spirit of Children, which works to make hospital stays less scary for kids.

The next night, enjoy one of the Fine Arts Center's legendary Halloween shindigs. The theme is "Goth Glam Bash," so they're expecting your darkest and gothiest outfits in all genres. Add in some ridiculously good food and drink and it will be quite the get-down. ($15-$20, csfineartscenter.org).

If none of these strike your fancy, well, you clearly don't enjoy fun and I may not be able to help you. But check out our listings on page 42 for more possibilities all the same.

Incarceration Nation

27 Thursday

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Incarceration Nation

A brand new exhibit that addresses various aspects of the prison system, including solitary confinement, juvenile justice, gender expression and more

Two nights with the artists — presentation tonight, panel on Friday

All exhibiting artists are activists, commentators or former inmates

Not-so-fun fact: Number of people imprisoned in the U.S. has increased 500 percent over the last 40 years according to The Sentencing Project